Penelope
Penelope is a character from the Sly Cooper series, first introduced in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. She initially appears during the gang's operation in Holland, disguised as the infamous pilot, the Black Baron, but is unmasked by Sly towards the conclusion of the aviation Tournament, and decides to join the gang as their RC expert following these events. In English she is voiced by Annette Toutonghi. In the Japanese versions of Sly 3 she is revealed to be voiced by Ryouko Shiraishi. (A rather coincidental nod to Jimmy Neutron, one of Shiraishi's other JPN dub roles.) Profile Penelope is an anthropomorphic mouse who possesses the knowledge and intellect of RC aerial operations which surpasses that of even Bentley. Bentley first encountered her during their discussion in the ThiefNet chatroom. She refused to join the gang after Bentley's invitation, stating that she would only ally herself with them under the conditions that they proved they were capable of defeating "the best" in an RC aerial tournament, the Black Baron (her current "employer"). After a number of different operations rooted in Holland, the gang managed to shoot down the Baron's plane, at which point Sly engaged him in a battle of fisticuffs on the wing of his back-up plane. Upon being outmatched, the Baron was unmasked and revealed to be Penelope in disguise, using his guise to participate in tournaments she was banned from due to age restrictions (which leads many fans under the impression that she is still quite young). After emerging victorious in her first tournament, the Baron became a dogfighting international celebrity. However, following the gang's victory, Penelope discovered she no longer needed to keep up her appearances as the Black Baron, and handed the trophy to the Cooper Gang. Afterwards, she joined the gang as their second official member (fifth in chronological order) as their RC aerial expert. Penelope aided the gang in their missions in China, using the benefits provided by her RC car and RC chopper. During their operation in Blood Bath Bay, Penelope was held prisoner by Captain LeFwee, who intended she be his bride-to-be. However, Penelope engaged the pirate captain in combat after being freed in a battle of swordplay, in which she defeated LeFwee. Her final operation involved assisting Sly in venturing through the Cooper Vault. After the events of Sly's disappearance, Penelope and Bentley formed a relationship together and began experimenting on a time-machine. Career in the Cooper Gang Penelope willingly joined the gang as their RC expert, becoming the fifth member of the Cooper Gang and the only female. She has little involvement in physical gameplay, owing to her small stature (despite taking on Sly in Holland aboard the wing of a plane). She mostly relies on utilizing her RC Car and Chopper to assist in capers to great effect. However, upon realizing her affections for Bentley, she proved her mettle by challenging and defeating the dreaded Captain LeFwee in a deadly sword duel amid the rigging of the Death's Head sails, making this the only 'Boss Fight' in the game Sly did not take part in. As shown at the end of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, Penelope helped Bentley create a new Cooper Vault, assisting in adding more technological safeguards to the upgraded vault to ensure the safety of the riches that the team had worked so hard to acquire. Also, emblazoned upon the vault door were the images of the original Cooper Gang trio. Love Life Penelope's love life is played upon humorously throughout the game. As illustrated Bentley's his wide-eyed drooling expression on first seeing a picture of her, he is infatuated with Penelope from the start, much like his friend Sly is with Carmelita. But when they finally meet, the pictures they shared of themselves prove to be rather inaccurate and Penelope quickly turns her attention to the athletic physique of Sly; Bentley seems disappointed and disinterested but his interest returns over time as Penelope proves her intellect. However, after Bentley is threatened by LeFwee she realizes she holds strong feelings for him, leading her to heroically saving him and defeating the pirate. After the gang disbands Penelope and Bentley stick together to help rebuild the Cooper Vault. Questioning Her Narrative Penelope's origins, along with other members, are very anonymous. For example, her age is never determined, other than being blocked from the ACES tournament by age limits. Many fans assume that Penelope is probably not even in her early twenties. However, since the interval of time between when she first disguised herself as Black Baron and when she joined the Cooper Gang is undetermined, she could be significantly older. Still, she is most likely to be the youngest member of the Cooper Gang. She may also be very wealthy, since she is able to finance the ACES tournament, hire dozens of guards, own and maintain countless planes and zeppelins, and even live in a castle. Her species is never explicitly given but she is almost certainly a mouse without a tail. It is confirmed on the Sly 3 website that her ethnicity is Dutch. Personality Despite trying to kill Sly in the ACES tournament, Penelope is a very nice person. She enjoys utilizing her RC talents against enemies, and while doing so usually gets slightly over excited. While Penelope had only been a member of the gang for a short time, she was dedicated to her new-found friends, eagerly supporting them whenever they needed help. Unfortunately, her lack of physical prowess makes her rather timid when actually confronted by an enemy, but when someone she loves -namely Bentley- is threatened, she becomes a powerful combatant. Abilities Penelope is an ace pilot, to the point of achieving near-legendary status as the Black Baron. She is equally adept with RC planes and cars, and she designs, constructs and modifies them as well as operating them. Like Bentley, she is extremely intelligent (Sly remarks that when the two talk, their conversations go over everyone else's heads) but her expertise is less on the planning and hacking side of things, and is instead focused on the mechanical. She also seems to have picked up some swordsmanship skills somewhere, as shown when she successfully dueled Captain LeFwee and some boxing skills as well, shown when she fights Sly as the Black Baron. Status Penelope is the RC pilot and 5th member of the Cooper Gang. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time Not much is known about Penelope in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, but she and Bentley built a Time Machine. It is unclear if she is a playable character in Thieves in Time or being seen in the game. Appearances *Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves **Flight Of Fancy **A Cold Alliance **Dead Men Tell No Tales **Honor Among Thieves